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CD
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AU 5007CD
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This French-Canadian ultra-rarity makes its long-overdue CD debut here. Originally issued in 1969, it's a crazed blend of catchy pop, funky grooves and spaced-out psychedelia, with plenty of acid guitar. The identity of the enigmatic Melchior Alias remains unknown, but numerous leading lights of Quebec's progressive music scene are involved, including arranger and future disco luminary Denis Lepage and engineer Peter Tessier (later to make his own rare album). It seems likely that the credit for Robert Goulet as musical director is a joke -- but anything seems possible on this most strange and mysterious of discs. "From Quebec and sung in French, this goofy fusion of guitar, organ, drums and mild electronics has an amiable air of stoned experimentalism ... the highlights are the bizarre groover 'Itineraire 9,' laid-back ballad 'L'Espace d'un Été' and spacey 'L'Aquarium,' which recall the more experimental work of Michel Polnareff and Serge Gainsbourg. Two 45s were extracted, and quite a lot of effort went into the packaging, but promotion and distribution must have been poor, as it's easily one of the rarest major label albums of the period." --Patrick Lundborg, The Acid Archives
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